UNRWA expresses gratitude to UAE President

Abu Dhabi, April 22, 2012 (WAM) - The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and the people in Gaza have expressed gratitude to UAE and President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan for the continued humanitarian support to help the Palestinian children get uninterrupted education. Earlier this month, the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation(KBZF) and UNRWA, signed an extension of the agreement to support, for a second year, the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan School in Beit Lahia, in Gaza. The Beit Lahia educational complex hosts two elementary schools serving 2,814 pupils, both boys and girls. Supporting the school for a second year will enable the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation to participate directly in providing Palestine schoolchildren with a decent education and to join hands with UNRWA, which has set the development of future generations of Palestine refugees as one of its priorities. The KBZF effort has brought relief and comfort to the Palestinian children and their parents. The decision drew smiles on the faces of thousands of people in Gaza. The Commissioner-General of UNRWA Filippo Grandi expressed gratitude to the UAE for the extension of the agreement which supports the partnership between the two organisations. According to the agreement, KBZF will take on a major part of the costs of maintaining and operating the Beit Lahia school for another academic year, starting in September 2012. "We are delighted to embark on the second year of this important partnership with the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation. At a time when good quality education provided by UNRWA is needed more than ever in Gaza, help from partners like the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation allows us to ensure that existing UNRWA schools are serving pupils well, giving these children the best possible chance of securing their future. We are deeply grateful to the Foundation and its Patron, H.H Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed al Nahyan, President of the UAE, for this partnership with UNRWA which continues to go from strength to strength", said the UNRWA official earlier in a statement. Khalifa Bin Zayed al Nahyan Foundation and UNRWA began their cooperation in 2008 with a project to provide food to poor refugees in Gaza. Since then, Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan Foundation has continuously helped UNRWA support Palestine refugees in the West Bank and Gaza. – Emirates News Agency, WAM